"Our happiness is to take care of the health of wounded soldiers"

Love is where there is love

CenterNursing wounded soldiersNghe An contains a long story of gratitude and silent sacrifice. Here, the wounded and sick soldiers mainly come from Nghe An and Ha Tinh, carrying disabilities ranging from 81% to 100%, each with a different situation: blind in both eyes, amputated in both legs, spinal cord injury, spinal cord paralysis, traumatic brain injury, paralysis of the whole body... They are living witnesses of a fierce war, people who have devoted their youth and a part of their body to the independence and freedom of the Fatherland.

Over 50 years have passed, Nghe An War Invalids Nursing Center has witnessed the return of 559 people to recuperate at home, living in the love of relatives and the community. Currently, the Center is taking care of 55 war invalids, including 44 special war invalids and 5 sick soldiers. To shoulder this noble responsibility, the Center has 37 officers, civil servants, and workers, most of whom were recruited from the period 2009-2011, young, highly qualified, and qualified to provide the best care for war invalids and sick soldiers.

The work of the nurses here is not only to take care of physical health but also to provide spiritual medicine, to soothe the wounds that are difficult to heal. They are both professional nurses and devoted, responsible children and grandchildren, taking on the most silent tasks such as cleaning the house, toilets, preparing food, and doing laundry for the wounded soldiers. With the special care of the center's staff, and the efforts of the wounded soldiers to overcome pain and defeat their illnesses, their health gradually stabilizes over time.

To better visualize the dedication, devotion, and responsibility of the nursing staff at Nghe An War Invalids Nursing Center, the story of war invalid Tran Huu Dien is a vivid example. Mr. Dien has been bedridden since he was 20 years old, and is now over 75 years old, which means he has been bedridden for 55 years. The miracle is that throughout all those years, he has not had any bedsores, his health is still good, and his room is always clean and fragrant. To do that, the nurses have to be on duty 24/7, turning war invalid Tran Huu Dien every 15 minutes. Even at night, they still have to make sure his skin is not stuffy.

Mr. Pham Trong Song, a war invalid who has been with the Nghe An War Invalids Nursing Center since its inception, commented on the nurses here, Mr. Song said: “The nurses are always polite, treating us like fathers and uncles in the family, even though we each have different personalities. Even many war invalids with unstable mental health, when their old wounds hurt, scolded and vented their anger on the nurses, but they did not feel offended or angry. It must be said that the nurses are an extremely important support for us war invalids. The new class of nurses in the future all have high expertise, good qualifications, and provide professional and methodical care.”

Having lived at the center for 45 years, war invalid Ngo Xuan Kien (born in 1944) shared: "After returning from the war, my legs could not walk, my old wounds often recurred, and a few years ago I had a stroke and was paralyzed. If it weren't for the attentive and dedicated care of the nurses, I wouldn't be able to sit here and talk, and my hands wouldn't be able to move."

The feelings of "children" who are not of the same blood

Ms. Hoang Thi Tuyet Nhung (born in 1986), head nurse, has been with the center since 2009, emotionally shared: "The nurses here play the role of a relative of the wounded soldiers, providing comprehensive care for them, so that they are physically healthy and mentally happy. In recent years, the health of the soldiers has become increasingly weaker, so the care has become more difficult."

The hardships of nurses are multiplied when they have to follow wounded soldiers to receive treatment at central hospitals. Like blood relatives, they follow wounded soldiers to the hospital, staying there for weeks, being on duty day and night when the soldiers become seriously ill. For young nurses, this means being away from their families and children. The number of nurses is decreasing, making the shift time shorter, and the pressure is even heavier.

The days in the hospital were not only stressful in terms of time, homesickness, and missing their children, but also in terms of mental breakdown. In particular, the nursing team had to witness the extreme pain of the wounded soldiers... Nurse Le Hai Yen (born in 1986) emotionally said: “They are soldiers with the qualities of Uncle Ho's soldiers, always silently enduring pain. They will do whatever they can, not wanting to bother or ask for help from anyone. They consider us as their children and grandchildren, always caring, asking, and being grateful. Thanks to being with them, we learned many good qualities, valuable advice, from which we became more mature and steadfast.”

Ms. Hoang Thi Tuyet Nhung said: “Having been with the wounded soldiers for many years, our emotional bond is big enough to feel the pain of their suffering. There are patients who have been at the National Burn Institute for 3 months because they did not respond to the medicine, so they had to have skin grafts, and every day they had a part of their body amputated, the pain was indescribable. At night, the soldiers were in so much pain that they could not sleep for months, even after receiving the strongest painkillers. Most of their bodies had been sacrificed for the Fatherland, but the remaining part was still tormented, struggling, and extremely painful…”.

For Ms. Nhung and many nurses at the center, each war invalid who passes away is a loss of a loved one. They even remember the death anniversaries of many war invalids, even though many years have passed. There are some deaths that make the whole center cry forever.

"To do this job, you must have a heart, otherwise you won't be able to stay long term. When I first came here, I didn't intend to stay long term, but the more I work, the more proud, grateful, and loving my job I feel and see this as my second home. Our happiness is the health of the doctors.woundedand we will always strive for that," Head Nurse Hoang Thi Tuyet Nhung affirmed./.